Wow, what a week in Scottish fitba.
Celtic lose (another) manager, Rangers' dreams of a domestic treble are crushed in the last minute at Tannadice and Dundee's self destruction in Division One took another step nearer to completion as they drop two points against Queen of the South while Caley where busy trouncing Airdrie, the team whose costly victory over Dundee cost Jocky Scott his job.
The action continues unabated this weekend with a full program on the Saturday, leaving the Sabbath day free for Sabbath-esque activities, whatever that constitutes for you. Inside Left will spend his day painting walls and possibly watching the paint dry, putting him in the right frame of mind to watch the Aberdeen v St Mirren reruns on Sunday evening.
The game of the weekend may well be at Pittodrie where Aberdeen, now certain of their future as a bottom-six side for the remainder of the season, take on a rampant St Mirren, fresh from sorting out Celtic and no doubt still smarting from losing out on silverware against a Rangers five-a-side team (note: joke).
I twittered the other day if Mark McGhee would also be getting the sack (bundled out in the boot of his own lease-car, typical AFC style) should St Mirren do an unlikely double and pump Aberdeen like they pumped Celtic. Perhaps a few weeks ago he might have, but McGhee is safe for now, so the Dons should see this as a practice game, a pre-season fixture, but with bigger and less friendly crowds.
Perhaps the game of the weekend is at Tynecastle, where Rangers come to town hoping to keep their lead over the rest of the hoi-polloi to nothing less than respectable 10 points by beating an indifferent and limp Hearts side.
Or possibly it's to be found at Parkhead, where Celtic 'legend' Neil Lennon has taken over the reins and thus immediately lining himself up for his by now annual "kicking in by some neds down a Glasgow alley". Wouldn't it be funny if Kilmarnock's Chris Maguire (really Aberdeen's Chris Maguire, the same Chris Maguire who scored once in 21 appearances for Aberdeen and four in eight for Killie) scores again to beat Celtic (like he did back in February), causing the Celtic Board to spring into action to fire Lennon so that Henrik Larrson can have a go at coaching a team?
Hamilton taking on St Johnstone is only for the purists, while Falkirk against Hibs will be important for both teams, as both are desperately looking for points to ensure survival and/or European football next season.
The SPL game of the weekend then is the tussle between Scottish Cup semi-finalists Dundee United and non-finalists of any kind, Motherwell. Craig Brown has made Motherwell a tough team to beat and has certainly turned around the club following the desperate second season with McGhee and the contractually-challenge Jim Gannon (who, incidentally, has left Peterborough for reasons to do with not liking the town, or something). Dundee United are another team exceeding expectations this season and with a chance of silverware still very much on the cards (assuming they get past Raith Rovers), it's all coming up tangerine on Tayside this season.
Here's how we see it going:
Aberdeen v St Mirren (draw)
Celtic v Kilmarnock (home win)
Dundee United v Motherwell (home win)
Falkirk v Hibernian (away win)
Hamilton v St Johnstone (draw)
Hearts v Rangers (away win)
Division One
The First division remains interesting, with all eyes on Dingwall and Partick. A win for Ross County against Dundee, coupled with a win by Caley Thistle in Glasgow would see a new leader in Division One. Caley - and to a certain extent Dunfermline - have done very well to close the gap on Dundee, taking advantage of the Tayside club's defeats by continuing to win consistently and so set up a real challenge for promotion. Realistically, any team from first to sixth still has a chance of making it to the SPL, so every game is a six-pointer. Unless you're one of Airdrie v Morton, or Raith v Ayr, in which case you're basically cannon fodder for the other teams. Especially Airdrie who are going down quicker than John Terry's underpants.
Airdrie Utd v Morton (away win)
Partick Thistle v Inverness (away win)
Queen of South v Dunfermline (draw)
Raith v Ayr (home win)
Ross County v Dundee (home win)
The Scottish Second Division
Alloa look odds-on to win promotion, but whether that will be automatic or via the play-offs remains to be seen. They're five points clear of Cowdenbeath and eleven points clear of Stirling, so at least a play-off spot is guaranteed. Something else which is guaranteed is Clyde's relegation to the Third Division. The Bully Wee are 13 points off a play-off spot, all in all marking a sad end to a pretty sustained period of misfortune, not helped by the fact the Broadwood club has to release nearly every player (bar one, I think) at the start of the season to ensure survival.
From a north-east point of view, it's a shame to see Peterhead falling behind. The Blue Toon where one of our tips for promotion this season, but lying six points of fourth spot, it doesn't look like they'll make it this year.
Arbroath v Alloa (away win)
Clyde v East Fife (away win)
Dumbarton v Peterhead (home win)
Stenhousemuir v Brechin (draw)
Stirling v Cowdenbeath (home win)
The Scottish Third Division
Livingston looks set for instant promotion, which is really all you'd have expected this season, what with them playing Third Division football with a First Division squad 'n all. They're eleven points clear of East Stirlingshire, once Scotland's worst football team and the topic of a very humorous book. Montrose have worked wonders in recent weeks to catch up with Elgin City at the bottom of the table. Montrose only won their first game of the season at the end of January(!), since which they've gone on to claw some points back and are currently enjoying a three-game unbeaten run.
Forfar, Queens Park and Berwick make up the chasing pack for the three play-off places.
Albion v Annan Athletic (home win)
Elgin v Forfar (home win)
Montrose v Berwick (draw)
Queens Park v Livingston away win)
Stranraer v East Stirling (away win)
Right, that's it. If you're away to a game, have a good one, I hope you win, unless you're a St Mirren fan, in which case I hope you have a thoroughly miserable day.
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